Michele Lee - Weekly Newsletter

Erwin Elementary > Classrooms > Weekly Newsletter

05.25.13

March 25, 2013

Dear Parents,

I hope all of you had a great weekend! Wow! The last few weeks have just flown by us. The rest of the year promises to be just as action packed. If your child is involved in Think Smart, afterschool tutoring, or Science Olympiad, please remember that there will be no afterschool activities tomorrow. We will be back on schedule for the rest of the week.

Student work folders are going home today. Please sign the sheet in the left-hand pocket of the folder stating you have seen and gone over the enclosed papers with your child. You need to discuss with your child his or her strengths and weaknesses then sign the sheet and return the folder with all the work inside. Please keep this newsletter on your refrigerator so that you can refer back to it in order to remember important events and information.

This week students will be completing their science unit on rocks and minerals. Students will begin their birthstone project which will be due after Spring Break. Please look at the deadline carefully. We will complete our fraction unit as well as students work with fraction line plots. I will complete the third round of reading records this week too. Remember that this determines your child's reading level. By the end of the year students will need to be reading on a level S in order to be on grade level.

We have many upcoming activities that are not listed below. Our Relay for Life team is collecting names for its Footprints campaign. Each footprint has the name of someone we are honoring or remembering who has battled cancer. A donation of $1 is being taken for each name. Just send in your name with the designation beside them so we know if we are honoring (those still with us) or remembering (those who lost their battle with cancer) them. On April 12 the team will "Put a Cap on Cancer." Those who wish to participate and wear their hat at school will donate $1 to Relay for Life. April 12 will also be our Jump Rope for Heart dance from 3:15-5:15. We will all wear red that day as we honor and remember those who have battled with heart disease. Those students who have at least $5 donated to the Jump Rope for Heart event and a parent signature will be involved in this dance.

Our End-of-the-Year Boot Camp will kick off as soon as we return from Spring Break. Students will be reviewing all the concepts they need to know in math and reading that will make them successful in fifth grade. Teachers will rotate to other classrooms to reteach specific concepts. This will continue through May 24 with a few exceptions. Third quarter benchmarks will take place for math on April 11 from 8:30-11 a.m. The reading benchmark will be given on April 19 at the same time. Students in fourth grade will take part in the Smarter Balance math assessment pilot between April 29 and May 10. Wow! So much for us to do! More than ever, it is important that you encourage and motive your child to be present at school each day and to be on his/her BEST behavior. There is still so much they need to know before they take the EOG tests the last week in May.

More than ever, it is important that your child have the time at home to work on computer. IXL (math) and Big Universe (reading) accounts were purchased for your child to use at school and at home. I set up students with their TenMarks account (math). I know many of our children need more exposure to concepts and skills than they can ever get at school. These sites provide extra practice and instruction for your child. If you have Internet capabilities, it is very important that your child be allowed to work on these sites as often as possible. Please remember the contract you and your student signed about promising to work on extra math work outside of homework. Regular homework plus time spent on these sites will help your child prepare for the world he/she now lives in. Again, many of our students need extra exposure to these concepts so they can be prepared to move on to fifth grade come May.

Please remember that our school collects Box Tops for Education. This provides money to order supplies for our students. Please send them in so that they can be used before their expiration date.

Important Dates - Tomorrow - Spring Pictures; Thursday 5:30 2nd Annual Spring Fling (Math project presentations, PTO Bingo, chorus to perform); Book Fair through Thursday; End of 9 Weeks Thursday; Friday - Early Release; April 1-5 - Spring Break: April 11 - Report Cards; April 16 - Awards Day

I appreciate all you do for your child and our school. Each day we are preparing your child to be the best person she or he can be. It takes a lot of work but together we can assist in miracles. After all, we are all a part of the same family. If you have any questions, remember that updates and homework are on my school voice mail at 897-7178 ext. 246. Spelling and vocabulary are on my website. Also remember that the math book can now be accessed from my website. Look to the list on the left. The math link is at the bottom. You can contact me via the "Contact Form" link to the left or via email at mlee@harnett.k12.nc.us.

Let's have a great, healthy week!

Thank you,

Michele Lee

Websites to help your child with fractions. Almost a third of this year's EOG in math will be related to fractions.

http://www.helpwithfractions.com/math-homework-helper/equivalent-fractions/

http://www.kidsolr.com/math/fractions.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/J002328F/

http://www.helpwithfractions.com/index.html

http://www.mathleague.com/help/fractions/fractions.htm

http://www.321know.com/fra.htm#topic1

http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/fractions/index.html

1. Fresh Baked Fractions. Choose the fraction that is not equivalent to the rest. 3 levels of difficulty.